Louis hits the market with a bang

By Hamza Hendawi

LOUIS Cruise Lines made its debut in the market yesterday with the splash that everyone had expected from a share whose Initial Public Offering was oversubscribed 53 times, drawing £508 million.

Trading in the share was heavy, with 3.7 million stocks changing hands. It closed at £3.03 after hitting an inter-day high of £3.80 and a low of £2.85. It opened trading at £3.50, nearly nine times the 40 cent price it was offered at in the IPO.

The eagerly-awaited debut of Louis shares ignited the market’s “other” companies sector, whose sub-index rose by 3.26 per cent to close at 251.60 with a volume of £13.30 million, of which £11.49 million went to Louis shares.

Trading in the share accounted for nearly 33 per cent of the day’s entire volume.

The strong showing by the sector also helped the market as a whole to regain more of the territory it lost last week when prices plunged by a total of 11.98 per cent on Thursday and Friday.

The all-share index rose by 4.62 per cent yesterday to close at 276.92 on a volume of £35.12 million. Share prices rose on Monday by 1.80 per cent.

In yesterday’s trade, only two of the market’s seven sectors — trade and tourism companies — ended the day down. The banks sector was the biggest winner, with its sub-index shooting by 5.78 per cent to close at 375.14 and attracting £9.13 million in volume.

Bank of Cyprus was up by nearly £1 to close at £11.23, while Popular Bank rose by 22.50 cents to finish the day at £6.68. Hellenic Bank was also up at £ 8.03.

The three banks’ warrants also had a field day. Bank of Cyprus 1999-2003 warrants were up 83 cents to close at £8.28, while those of the Popular Bank notched up 64.50 cents to close at £10.52. Hellenic Bank warrants moved up 35.50 cents to close at £5.80.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.